


the only hope for me is you

by celestialsphere



Series: Sacrifices [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:02:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25311313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celestialsphere/pseuds/celestialsphere
Summary: A short alternate ending to part 1! not required to read the previous part all you need to know is that steve did the snap instead of tony
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Series: Sacrifices [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1830058
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	the only hope for me is you

Dejavu. That's what Steve felt when he opened his eyes. He could almost hear the gears creaking in his head, trying to make sense of what was going on. If this was heaven, this definitely did not look like anything he imagined. Steve didn't know what he was expecting, perhaps something like in the movies, bright lights, clouds for floors, maybe a golden gate marking the end of his journey in life and the start of afterlife? 

Steve blinked, confused. Heaven sure looked like the inside of a hospital ward. Except, this hospital ward did not really look like anything Steve had ever seen before and he'd seen many hospitals. From his time as a sickly kid in pre-war Brooklyn, to his time in medical facilities as Captain America during the war, to his time in 21st Century hospitals after he woke up from the ice. This looked like a more sophisticated version of the 21st Century hospitals he was familiar with, same beeping machinery but less tubes and wires, same room with different appliances. Was that a television in the corner? Why did it look like something straight out of Tony Stark's lab? 

Steve heaved himself to an upright sitting position. Ow, his head hurt but he was otherwise uninjured. 

_ Guess that makes sense right? You don't bring mortal injuries with you to heaven right?  _ Steve wondered briefly. As he tried to make sense of his surroundings, Steve was startled out of his thoughts by a knock on the door. 

"Captain?" a voice called. The door swung open to reveal… 

"Princess Shuri? What are you doing here?" Steve frowned. "Did the snap not work?" 

"What? No! I'm alive! See!" Shuri grinned, poking Steve in the arm. 

Steve yelped. "Where am I? Why do you look like you're 30?" 

The grin on Shuri's face faded away quickly, replaced by a grimace. 

"Well… You see, you kinda were asleep for a long time…" she mumbled.

"What! How long?" 

Why does this keep happening to him? Steve groaned as he buried his face in his hands. 

Oh God, his hand!

"What the fuck?" Steve exclaimed, horrified. Where his left hand had been was now replaced by a shiny prosthetic hand. 

"We couldn't save your hand, the damage was too extensive. You're lucky the serum saved the rest of your body from the same fate. Before we got to the hospital your heart had stopped beating twice." Shuri explained calmly, as if expecting Steve's reaction. 

"How… how long was I asleep?" Steve asked, distractedly flexing his fingers. The mobility on this thing was incredible! 

"Not that long, not as long as your time in the ice, around 20 years. Tony Stark devoted his life to finding a way to wake you up. I thought you already deduced it from my appearance." Stark teased, trying to lighten the mood. "Though the serum sure is impressive, you look like you've barely aged a day since the snap–" Shuri rambled. 

"Wait! Where's Bucky?" Steve cut in, worrying at his lip nervously. 

"Ah, there it is. The million dollar question." 

"Princess, please… " Steve pleaded, a warning tone in his voice. 

"Calm down," Shuri raised her arms in a placating gesture. "He's here. Here as in Wakanda by the way. Clearly you could tell. I worked with the Stark to help stitch you back together you know. Usually I don't let others take the title of genius but she–" 

"Take me to him!" Steve cut in again.

"Geez Captain, have some patience would you?" Shuri rolled his eyes. 

"Not Cap anymore," Steve muttered, folding his arms. "So where's Bucky?" 

"Long story short, Bucky decided to go back into the freezer and become a super soldier popsicle again." Shuri said, as she began filling Steve in on the time he missed out while asleep. 

\--

"...He should be waking up soon." Shuri reassured. "It just takes a while for him to regain consciousness after so long in cryo."

Steve paced the room nervously for what seemed like eternity. Any more pacing and he would have worn a hole in the carpet. 

"Ugh," Bucky groaned as he gradually regained consciousness. "What the fuck Shuri, why did you unfreeze me? Is the world ending again? I thought you agreed not to get me unless Steve was back?"

Tossing an arm over his eyes, Bucky sighed. He hated being awake knowing that Steve wasn't with him. 

"Hey Buck," Steve breathed. 

Lifting his arm and opening his eyes, Bucky froze, stunned at the sight before him.  _ What the fuck? _ Bucky thought. Was he hallucinating? 

"Holy shit! Steve? You're awake?" Steve was standing in the corner of the room, smiling hesitantly. 

"Come here asshole," Bucky laughed, delighted. He wrapped his arms around Steve in a huge bear hug. "Don't ever do that to me again!" 

"Hey Buck. Hope you didn't do anything stupid while I was away." Steve grinned, tucking his chin over Bucky's shoulder, running his hand along the small of Bucky's back.

"You punk, you took all the stupid with you," Bucky quipped back. 

Steve could feel Bucky's tears soaking into his shirt, leaving a small damp patch on his shoulder. Sitting there, on the hospital bed, with Bucky's arms wrapped tightly around him, Steve felt warm and comfortable. Unlike waking up from the ice in a S.H.I.E.L.D recovery room, this was a thousand times different. Of course, he didn't spend as much time asleep this time, but what made most of the difference was Bucky. Bucky was here, by his side. 

"Hey you two match now," Shuri piped up. Steve startled. He had completely forgotten Shuri was still in the room. Pulling away from Bucky's embrace, he entwined the fingers on their prosthetics together, metal interlocking with metal. Steve tugs Bucky's hand to his lips, placing a gentle kiss on his knuckles. 

"You're such a sap," Bucky teased even though his face betrayed his real thoughts as he flushed a light pink and looked pleased. 

\--

Steve lay in bed, listening to the chirping of the crickets, the rustling of the leaves in the night breeze, and the bleating of Bucky's goats. The early morning sun rays were filtering through their window, reflecting off Bucky's hair and turning it into a golden brown. God, he was gorgeous. Bucky turned around so that they were lying face to face with each other. 

"I can hear you thinking from here. What's up?" Bucky asked sleepily.

"Nothing, just listening to your annoying devil goat children bleating again." Steve smirked. 

"Hey! They're your children too! We agreed to co-parent." Bucky huffed indignantly. 

Steve chuckled, carding a hand through Bucky's soft locks and pressing a chaste kiss to Bucky's lips. Bucky smiled against his lips, reaching his hand out to cup Steve's cheek as he deepened the kiss. 

And for once in Steve's life, everything felt right. He was home. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading ! i wanted to leave it at the ending of the last fic and i felt bad for steve and bucky so i wrote this where they can be happy. i was thinking abt what bucky wld do if steve ended up in a coma for 20 years and decided that he wld probably choose to go back into cryo idk maybe :")


End file.
